1. MVMT Films (France) and Mirumir Studio (Russia) present:
Russian Winter
03.01.13 - 03.02.13
24 young filmmakers from 15 different countries exploring remote
places during winter, taking a fresh look at stereotypes about Russia
6 Short films shot and edited during the project composing a full
feature documentary film drawing a new map of the Russian reality.
Rich material for a web-documentary
6000 km... by train!
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2. IN ?
N E TRA
T I S CI
WHA
Cinetrain is a unique creative documentary project. We gather
young professional filmmakers from all over the world to partici-
pate in a thrilling and extreme filmmaking adventure... By train!
It all started with a Soviet documentary filmmaker in the 1930’s
named Aleksandr Medvedkin, who invented the Cinetrain as a propa-
ganda tool. Film crews would travel through the Soviet Union in specially
equipped wagons. Although they were filming the industrial achievements
of the regime, the underlying goal was to give the power of speech to peo-
ple who didn’t normally have the opportunity to get their voices heard.
Alexandr Medvedkin They were shooting and, straight away, edited and screened their movies
on the spot to the people that took part in the movies.
The first Cinetrain crew
in front of their wagon.
THE FIRST TWO PROJECTS
The Cinetrain project took place already two times in 2008 and 2010
respectively from Moscow to Vladivostok (“Cinetrain: Where does Europe
end?”) and from Bishkek to Moscow, (“Cinetrain: Bishkek-Moscow” )
The movies were presented both individualy and all together in
more than 40 festivals and received several international awards among
which:
- Semaine de la critique, Cannes 2009. Official selection.
- E.F.A. 2010. Short film nominee for Between dreams.
- Moscow International Film Festival 2010. Official selection.
-Vision du réel 2011. Best directing in a short film for Territories.
More info on our site:
cinetrain.net
The 2008 team at Cannes film festival The Cinetrain 2010 arriving in Moscow
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3. And now the Cinetrain is back for the third time!
To resurrect the enthusiastic feeling of Medvedkin’s adventure, we or-
ganized of call for participants from all over the world among young cinema
professionals. We received more than 200 applications from more than 50
countries. Participants were carefully selected, set up in teams and they will be
sent on the road, to shoot and edit short documentary novels on a given theme.
In an industry where puting up a film together from writing to shooting
and editing can take years, we offer a complete different and more instinctive
approach: creative documentary filmmaking on the move from city to city, edit-
ing on the way, the movies having to be screened upon arrival to the final des-
tination. The result of the project being a full-length documentary composed of
several novels different in form and approach and united by the same enthusi-
asm of being part of a unique experience.
Hard working conditions, critical deadlines, unknown places. We be-
lieve that challenges stimulate creativity!
The participants of the Russian winter project will visit 6 cities.
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The theme chosen for this edition of the project
and uniting the short novels is “STEREOTYPES”.
Here is why:
It is a fact well known: Russia suffers from a How to build a cultural identity in this urge
bad image abroad, mainly carried by the Western to “look like Europe”, and denying traditions? Why
media. This negative coverage is spread as well by Russians seem to be scared to face and laugh at the
the Russian press, implementing a vicious circle of stereotypes about their country with foreigners?
mistrust.
“Laughing at ourselves as well as with each other
It’s a common thing for a foreigner in Moscow gives a surprising sense of togetherness.” ~
to see yourself asked: “So? Any bear around here?”:
the Russians are convinced that all foreigners imag- Denying the truth in stereotypes is as stupid
ine Russia as a wild wasteland populated by bears as limiting a whole nation to them. Germans ARE
hanging around the streets of post industrial devas- order freaks, French DO drink a lot of wine and eat
tated cities where the population is wearing fur coat frogs, a lot of Americans ARE obese... But of course,
in summer and drinking vodka for breakfast... they are much more than that! Just like Russians are
much more than vodka drinkers, of course, but with-
While not entirely untrue, as a result of that, out the vodka drinking, would they still be Russians?
a foreigner visiting Russia may often come back Foreign filmmakers investigating the Russian stereo-
home not having taken a step out of Moscow, hang- types isn’t another way of negativly criticizing Rus-
ing around the city in an expensive German car, sia, but a way to go deeper into the national reality
dancing in fancy European style clubs playing Ameri- and discover how rich of traditions and human val-
can house music, eating, sushi and drinking French ues Russia really is.
Champagne with Russian ladies dressed in design After all, facing the look of others upon you is
clothes European women would only dream of... the condition to existing. Without the look of others
Their Russian hosts making a priority to show that you cannot built your identity. Without seeing your-
Russia isn’t the wild country they could expect, but self in someone else’s eye, you cannot see your flaws
a “civilized and developed great nation”... Far from and strengths, you cannot improve yourself.
understanding anything about Russia, foreign guests CINETRAIN: Russian winter wants to bring
will get a wrong idea of a country that has much everyone together in the celebration of the Russian
more to offer than the fancy Moscow life, that one identity... In laughter!
could find in any Western capital.
7 different stereotypes were chosen and will become the subject
of 7 short novels. Each team will research the theme beforehand
and prepare their movie, with the help of local consultants in
every city, shoot and edit their movie on the go. The movies will
be presented upon the end of the project.
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5. THE RUSSIAN WOMAN
The fantasies about the Russian woman are deeply rooted in the western
mythology about Russia. They are usually seen as gold-diggers searching for a bet-
ter life abroad or as elegant and good caring wives. But one thing is sure – they are
beautiful! But how do they feel about being seen as such? How do they see them-
selves? What is their secret?
The team
SANDHYA SUNDARAM (India)
“As a filmmaker, women have been
Resume
my constant suject, talking about
sample of work
various issues and stereotypes we
face in my country, India.”
DIRECTOR
DAVID LEE (UK) MARCIN KNYZIAK (Poland)
Resume Resume
sample of work sample of work
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY SOUND DIRECTOR
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6. THE BEAR QUESTION
Whatever the Russians say, bears are everywhere. From the 1980th Olym-
pic’s mascot to the logo of presidential party “Russia United” this symbol of power
and strength is all over the country. Russians do not like this stereotype, but still they
put it everywhere. It’s time to ask the bears how they feel about it.
The team
TRISTAN DAWS (UK)
“Above all, I value hope in my sto-
ries. I want to make films that shine
Resume
Sample of work
a bright light into dark places, and
allow us to see the world with new
eyes..”
DIRECTOR
STEFAN BOOKAS ELENA PETROSYAN
(Germany) (Russia)
Resume Resume
Sample of work Sample of work
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY SOUND DIRECTOR
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7. THE RUSSIAN BATH
“If you haven’t been to banya, you
haven’t been in Russia”. It’s the best place to
meet the “naked russian soul”: sweaty drunk
naked people beating each other with birch
branches, and then jumping into ice cold water
is a life changing experience. But why do they do
it? Can you really enjoy such a treatment?
The team
FYODOR DRUZIN (Usa / Russia)
“In film making as in life I love the
Resume
thin line between realism and ab-
Sample of work
surdity. Ideas must be honest, but
their realization imaginative..”
DIRECTOR
LUCA GIBERTI (Italy) TAMAS-FERENC JESZENSKY (Romania)
Resume Resume
Sample of work Sample of work
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY SOUND DIRECTOR
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8. MAKING A TOAST
Vodka is at the same time the biggest pride and the worse curse of Russia. They do
drink it a lot... To celebrate a birth or a death, the vodka usualy flows the same! But
vodka drinking is a more ritualized social event than you would imagine, and the
Russian toast may be the most touching expression of the Russian soul...
The team
BENNY JABERG (Switzerland)
“My movie will show - without prej-
udices - that drinkers aren’t always
Resume
Sample of work
stupid, violent people but mostly
on the contrary: people with (too
much) sensitivity.”
DIRECTOR
JOONA PETTERSSON XAVIER THIEULIN
(Finland) (France)
Resume Resume
Sample of work Sample of work
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY SOUND DIRECTOR
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9. HOW TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE WINTER
It’s no mystery: Russian winter is tough and very very very cold. Still the life
doesn’t stop: children go to school, shops are open and restaurants are full even by
-30°C. What are the tricks and hints the Russian use to make this extreme part of the
year more bearable?
The team “The funny, touching or hectic eve-
CRISTINA PICCHI (Italy)
ryday struggle to cope with the
climatic harshness of these areas
Resume would be counterbalanced with lyr-
Sample of work ical moments in which disembodied
thoughts, emotions, memories and
DIRECTOR
hopes would converge in a sympho-
ny of voices...“
SAULIUS LUKOSEVICIUS(Lithuania) HENRI D’ARMANCOURT (France)
Resume Resume
Sample of work Sample of work
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY SOUND DIRECTOR
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10. THE LADA MYSTERY
What is a Lada on top of a mountain? A miracle. How do you double the price
of a Lada? You just have to tank it up. What’s the mystery behind this legendary
brand? And more important: who drives these cars and... why?!
The team
DIETER DESARTE (Belgium)
“As a filmmaker my aim is to con-
tinuously create documentary
Resume
Sample of work
films that are intimate, humanistic,
thought provoking and considerate
towards the people I work with.”
DIRECTOR
ANNEGRET SACHSE Yulia Glukhova
(Germany) (Russia)
Resume Resume
Sample of work Sample of work
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY SOUND DIRECTOR
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11. THE RUSSIAN SOUL
“You cannot understand Russia with your head, you need to use your heart!”,
this stereotype may be the only one Russian people are actualy proud of. But does
it really exist or is it a way to flatter its inhabitants by giving them the feeling to be
special?.. Because we don’t take the answer “it’s the Russian soul, you cannot un-
derstand” as an answer, we need to enquire this question!
The team
ROBIN DIMET (France) “I try to have some humour in all
my films, to bring poetry and laugh-
Resume
Sample of work
ter... I’m interested in imagination,
dreams, ethnic and marginal peo-
ple, travel and wild nature “
DIRECTOR
JOHN CRAINE (UK) BERNADETT TUZA-RITTER (Hungary)
Resume Resume
Sample of work Sample of work
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
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12. o vies
m
ng the Getting the short films together into one full fea-
U niti ture film is a critical part of the project, which we are
planning to achieve in 2 possible ways.
- Including making-of material between the - Having common characters / places through the
short movies: different short films.
HOW the films are made is to us almost as We could make the characters of the mov-
important as the movies themselves. The adven- ies “pass by” each others. For example the main
ture of young filmmakers from different countries, character from the “lada” film could end up drink-
traveling in extreme conditions in 3rd class train ing vodka with friends, and we would smoothly
wagon on thousands of kilometers in a snow cov- switch from one stereotype to the other... anoth-
ered landscape is a movie in itself! er team taking over at that moment, leaving one
Giving the audience the feeling of this ad- character behind and going with the next one...
venture can really add up to the films in different
ways: we could introduce each team before each
movie by asking them what they expect from the
adventure at the beginning of the trip, see them
working, watch their movie and then go back to
the team at the end of their film to meet them
after completing the adventure and they could tell
us about how a hard / funny / interesting / mind
blowing experience this was and how their opin-
ion about Russia changed (or not).
Shooting in the train (Cinetrain 2008)
The making-of team No matter which way we will decide to choose, a complete shoot-
ing crew will come along to shoot a stand alone making-of the pro-
ject. They are all participants of the previous Cinetrain projects and
are familiar with the specific aspects of filmmaking in thoses condi-
tions as they went themselves through it!
OLIVIER JOURDAIN MARTON VIZKELETY DIMITRIS TOLIOS
(Belgium) (Hungary) (Greece)
DIRECTOR DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
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13. Abo
ut S
che
dul
e
Research and preparation: September-November 2012
Pre-production: November-December 2012
The project itself: 3/01/13 - 03/02/13
Post-production: February 2013
Delivery: 01/03/13
Abo
ut M
one
y
- Total budget of the project: 150 000€
- Financed on 10/08/2012: 75 000€
- Sponsorship (expected) 25 000€
- Necessary founds: 50 000€
Our project received a production grant from the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.
Some 2008 Cinetrain participants editing in the train
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14. s
ou tU
Ab
The Cinetrain: Russian Winter project is co-produced by MiruMir Studio (Russia) and MVMT Films (France)
Guillaume Protsenko - MVMT Films Tanya Petrik - MiruMir Studio
Guillaume is a French producer and direc- Tanya Petrik is a Russian producer. She is
tor. He graduated from the Russian film both experienced in fiction and documen-
school (VGIK) in 2010 as a fiction director. tary executive production and works for
By that time he already produced two edi- international productions.
tions of the Cinetrain project.
Fascinated by Russia he now lives be-
tween France and Russia where he is de-
veloping different projects between those
two countries, both as a director and as a
producer.
ta cts
Con
www.cinetrain.net
info@cinetrain.net
tel: +79263701773
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